Saturday, March 31, 2018

Crystal Palace 1-2 Liverpool: 5 Talking Points

The Premier League weekend began with Liverpool travelling to Selhurst Park to take on a struggling Crystal Palace side. The Reds were looking to continue their form after having thumped Watford 5-0 in their last league encounter.

The Eagles, on the other hand, had just ended their four-game losing streak after beating Huddersfield 2-0 away from home and were hoping to add to that victory.

Luka Milivojevic converted the spot-kick to give the home side the lead in the 13th minute but Jurgen Klopp's side appeared to be rejuvenated in the second half when Sadio Mane scored an equaliser in the 49th minute.

More to and fro action followed throughout the rest of the game and, finally, Mohamed Salah sealed the game for the Reds with an 84th-minute winner. Here are the major talking points from the game.

Image Source From Google

Early on in the game, Sadio Mane looked like the only source of creativity for the Reds. In what was a slow start for Liverpool, Mane was consistently on the prowl.

However, he took a step too far when he went down rather theatrically after James McArthur slid in the penalty box to challenge the Senegalese. Mane was rightly booked for simulation.

Apart from that blip, he managed to head in a ball nudged by Roberto Firmino from a corner but had drifted offside and the goal was disallowed. All of this did not deter the winger as he kept striving forward.

Mane was rewarded for his persistence when he managed to convert a low ball from Milner a few yards out after the Englishman had played a little one-two with Firmino to equalise for the Anfield outfit.

Soon after though, Mane was amidst another piece of the action on the field when he deliberately handled the ball in Liverpool's own half after going down in an aerial tussle.

While the foul was given, the Liverpool man was spared a much-deserved second booking that would have resulted in marching orders for the former Southampton player. Realising the same, Klopp replaced his best attacker on the night at the 64-minute mark with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.